Linda Ackerman, a longtime GOP activist and California’s national committeewoman, has been appointed as the state’s chairwoman for Maggie’s List, named after the late U.S. Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, R-Maine.
Maggie’s List seeks to recruit, develop and raise money for fiscally conservative female candidates for federal office. Founded in 2010, it’s viewed as the Republican counterpart to the longer-established, better known Emily’s List, which supports pro-choice Democratic women.
“It is crucial that we elect more fiscally conservative women to office,” Ackerman said in a news release announcing her appointment.
Maggie’s list recently endorsed 20 conservative House members for re-election, noting that women hold only about 17 percent of the seats in the House and Senate while often exceeding the voter turnout rate of men. “Maggie’s List works to reverse this reality by empowering women to run for federal office,” its website says.

Ackerman also serves on the advisory committee for the California Republican Women Federated and is a board member of the California Republican Party. She ran unsuccessfully for the state Assembly in a 2009 special election.
She and her husband, former state Senate Republican Leader Dick Ackerman, live in Orange County.(c)2012 the Los Angeles Times
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